Epic Games Store surpasses 75 million monthly active users, gave away 586 million games in 2023

When we think about PC gaming platforms, the most recognizable and talked about is Steam. The last time we got word from Valve about monthly active users (MAU) was in 2021 when it reported that Steam had 132 million monthly active players.

2

Epic Games Store users claimed 'nearly 586 million' free games in 2023, image credit: Epic Games.

Although it's been a couple of years since we've gotten an update from Valve relating to MAU numbers, Epic Games has just released its 'Epic Games Store 2023 Year in Review' which saw its monthly active users count hit 75 million in December 2023, a 10% increase from 2022.

The Epic Games Store is the home of Fortnite on PC, Rocket League, and other popular online titles like Valorant and League of Legends. It's also a Steam-like storefront with games from various publishers, with free games given away weekly. In fact, throughout 2023, users claimed 'nearly 586 million' free games.

And if you claimed all 86 free games for the year, you got $2,055 worth of PC games for the low price of nothing. Epic Games added that the average review score across all free games was 75% - not too shabby.

Some more Epic Games Store 2023 highlights

The number of Epic Games Store users has grown compared to 2024, with 270 million users total, representing a 40 million increase from 2022. However, even though Epic's games' revenue was up 16% to hit over $950 million, third-party spending was down 13% year over year - even after Epic added 1,300 new PC games to the store.

The platform's most popular non-free-to-play third-party game was Dead Island 2, followed by FIFA 23, Red Dead Redemption II, Alan Wake II, The Lord of the Rings Return to Moria, and Hogwarts Legacy.

Outside of users and revenue, Epic notes that its loading times for the Epic Games Store app are now sitting at a third of what it used to be for 95% of users - which is great to see.

What's in Store for 2024?

After several back-end improvements in 2023, this year will see several customer-facing improvements to the Epic Games Store app and platform on PC. A brand-new Download Manager will offer proper queues and scheduling with update notifications. Pre-loading is also coming for pre-purchases.

'Significant improvements to Offline Mode' and improvements to chat and social functionality are coming. Support for subscription services, revamped bundles, and a dedicated iOS app in Europe is coming, thanks to the new Digital Markets Act.